Analysts were so overcome by IBM Corp’s better-than-expected first quarter figures (CI No 2,400) that chief financial officer Jerry York had to try to cool their ardour by pointing out that yes, RS/6000s were up by a high single digit percentage, and AS/400s were up in low single digits – say 8% and 2% – compared with this time last year, and personal computers were up 30%, mainframes were down 12% and AS/400 was the only product line making an acceptable profit – and it is the others that are the white hopes for the future; IBM Personal Computer Co’s two-year goal is to be as profitable as Compaq Computer Corp, but it is aiming for a moving target – Compaq currently does a whopping $800,000 sales per employee, but the company’s target is $1m…
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